The Dark Side
The dark side of the Force, called Bogan or Boga by ancient Force-sensitives on Tython, was an aspect of the Force. Those who used the dark side were known as either Darksiders, Dark Side Adepts, or Dark Jedi when unaffiliated with a dark side organization such as the Sith. Unlike the Jedi, who were famous for using the light side of the Force, darksiders drew power from raw emotions and feelings such as anger, hatred, greed, jealousy, fear, aggression, megalomania, and unrestrained passion. Definition : "Evil began in a time before recorded history, when magicians made themselves into kings…and gods…using the powers of the dark side of the Force. The weak-minded have ever been ready to obey one who wields great power. Those who learned the powers of the dark side were quick to exploit this weakness—to make war. Again and again the dark side has surged forth, like a storm…devouring whole worlds and entire star systems. Those who mastered dark power ''became dark power. They unleashed destruction, for no other reason than for selfish gain. They despoiled nations…destroyed whole civilizations. Some of them, I am ashamed to say, were Jedi." : ―Ood Bnar : The dark side was an aspect of the Force, a metaphysical power that bound the galaxy together. The first known users of the dark side were the ancient Rakata, an alien species that conquered a large portion of the galaxy around 30,000 BBY. These aliens were able to harness the dark side to create engineering feats unheard of in their time, such as the hyperdrive and the Star Forge. However, the Rakatan Infinite Empire eventually collapsed when the Rakatans lost their connection to the Force. In 25,053 BBY, long after the fall of the Infinite Empire, the galaxy was creating a new government, the Galactic Republic. Prior to the dawn of this new era, scientists, philosophers, priests, and warriors gathered on the planet Tython to discuss and investigate an anomalous energy present throughout the galaxy. The group was able to discover Ashla, what became known as the light side of the Force. Eventually however, members of the group discovered and began to advocate the use of Bogan, or what would later become known as the dark side. At first the group founded the Je'daii Order, the predecessor to the Jedi Order. The Je'daii Order advocated using both sides of the Force and placed heavy emphasis on maintaining balance between the two. However, during a Rakatan invasion of Tython, the effects and demands of the war forced the Je'daii to cast aside the balance in exchange for the power of the dark side to defeat their enemies. After the Rakata had been defeated, the main Je'daii group wanted to return to the balance. However, after seeing the horrors of the dark side–wielding Rakata, some Je'daii wished to forbid the use of Bogan and only focus on Ashla. Meanwhile, other Je'daii saw the dangers of the galaxy and claimed they needed Bogan to survive and defend themselves. This impasse split the order and led to a civil war. These two groups clashed on the planet in a decade-long conflict known as the Force Wars of Tython. In the aftermath of the war, the followers of Ashla developed the Jedi Order, while the followers of Bogan seemingly faded from history.12 The dark side did not present a significant threat again until 24,500 BBY during the First Great Schism of the Jedi Order. Once again, however, the followers of the dark side, including the first known Dark Jedi Lettow General Xendor, were defeated by the members of the Jedi Order. Those who followed Xendor came to be known as the Legions of Lettow, and embraced combat in place of meditation, and focused their emotions on battle rather than peace. Several members of the Jedi Order would eventually take up these teachings and embrace the dark side in 7000 BBY, sparking the Hundred-Year Darkness. Although the Dark Jedi were again defeated and eventually exiled, it was this conflict that allowed for the creation of an enduring dark side organization, as these Exiles were the predecessors to the Sith. Nature of the dark side :: "''Evil is a word used by the ignorant and the weak. The dark side is about survival. It's about unleashing your inner power. It glorifies the strength of the individual." :: ―Darth Zannah :: The difference between the dark and light sides appears to be in how they feel to those who are aware of them. The light side at times has been described as a flowing river: soothing, constant, with hidden strength. In contrast, the dark side has been described as a roaring fire: obviously powerful, seductive, and potentially dangerous. Darth Revan also mentioned the difference between the two sides of the Force. They claimed that while the light side represented the compassion and tranquility of all beings of the galaxy, the dark side focused on individual passion and strength. They also mentioned that while the light side is about maintaining the status quo, the dark side is about change and evolution. The dark side was seen as having been used for selfish purposes, although many darksiders who were accused of such selfishness claimed that the dark side was simply a means to achieve an end. Many found the dark side to be addictive, unable to resist its pull the more they were subjected to it. Even as their physical bodies slowly decayed, Dark side users became more powerful in the Force. However, some users noted that the use of the dark side was a practical matter, as the power it granted was more efficient when performing destructive Force powers like telekinesis. Like the light side, the dark side was often treated as a semi-sentient entity with purposeful designs. It has been theorized by some that there is no such thing as the dark side but only malevolent intent in the user, since most dark-side users already possessed negative intentions or else fell victim to the temptations of absolute power and domination. Allure of the dark side ::: "That ship is alive with the dark side, Master Yoda. I can feel it clinging to my robes. And worse, it still tempts me, calling me back with promises of fantastic journeys to the far reaches of the galaxy." ::: ―Saesee Tiin The Sith call it enlightenment; however, no records explain exactly how a conversion to the dark side takes place. For some, the dark side was extremely attractive and almost impossible to reject. Every time a person in tune with the Force called on the dark side, they became more addicted to the power it brought them. The dark side's corrupting influence could take control of a Force user in certain moments. Although the Jedi primarily characterized the dark side as little more than a dangerous shortcut to power, those who embraced the dark side did so for various reasons. Some believed the dark side to be more generous than the light, as it provided power, strength, and determination. Many of the original Dark Jedi in the Great Schisms of the Jedi Order held this idea and believed it foolish of the Jedi to restrict themselves to a lesser interpretation of the Force. Some fell to the dark side for the sake of knowledge. Some fell to the dark side because of a natural connection with it. In some cases, Jedi who had had limited control over the light side found their power and natural talent massively stronger in the dark side. Others fell because they saw the light side and the endless rules that the Jedi demanded to maintain it as too much to follow, as well as too limiting to their influence on the galaxy. They saw the dark side and its tenets of free passion, action, and emotion as a much better alternative to a life of sterile servitude under the light. Some also converted because they felt that the dark side at least got things done, instead of the patience and pacifism of the light. Others believed that it was a necessary evil in dire times, such as Darth Revan. Some embraced the dark side not out of personal desire, but as a means to battle the Jedi. For many, like Darth Talon, Irek Ismaren, Darth Nox, the dark side was the first side of the Force to which they were introduced and thus they did not succumb to it. Often the call of the dark side was felt following a personal tragedy, Others turned to it in times of need or distress, such as Exar Kun. In addition, it was possible to be drawn to the dark side by proximity to a nexus of dark side energy, such as Malachor V or the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban. Though their pasts and situations were varied, almost all who turned to the dark side did so because they faced challenges and difficulties that they felt the light side was incapable of helping them overcome. The changes these individuals underwent that led them to the dark side were clearly a result of their life experiences up to that point, and their willingness or unwillingness to resist the emotive forces that pulled one over the threshold of its allure and power. Among the most powerful of those emotive forces—which lightsiders were ever cautioned to resist and darksiders were ever admonished to embrace—are fear and anger, for both can lead to hate, which ever lies only a stepping-stone away from the realm of the dark side. Fear was most often the starting point in a slide to the dark side—for, like a plague, it could quickly and rampantly affect individuals, groups, entire populations of cities, and even planets; and like a stream that becomes a raging river, it led naturally to anger, chaos, and unbridled power, if left unabated. When fear was thus allowed to fester and go unchecked, it could take hold and create a concentration of dark side energy that bordered on being something that approached a vergence or nexus in the Force. Those who were Force-sensitive could, often with great facility, detect such concentrations. Corruption of the dark side ::: "Will I eventually be physically transformed?" "Into some aged, pale-skinned, raspy-voiced, yellow-eyed monster, you mean. Such as the one you see before you. Surely you are acquainted with the lore: King Ommin of Onderon, Darths Sion and Nihilus. But whether it will happen to you, I can't say. Know this, though, Sidious, that the power of the dark side does not debilitate the practitioner so much as it debilitates those who lack it. The power of the dark side is an illness no true Sith would ever wish to be cured of." ::: ―Darths Sidious and Plagueis discuss the physical signs of dark side immersion. ::: The dark side, much like a strong, addictive narcotic, affected not only the mind of the user but the appearance as well. As one immersed oneself deeper within the dark side of the Force, its malevolent power took a toll on the body. The reason for this physical degradation was because flesh and bone lacked the endurance to channel the immense power of the dark side indefinitely. Revan also explained that while the light side and Jedi teachings were devoted to preventing physical change through the Force, the dark side changes had to be accepted by the Sith, or they would fail due to their attempts at moderation. Many darksiders experienced a change in the pigmentation of their eyes, as their normal eye color would transform into luminous, sulfuric yellow, a blood red or dark orange, usually with fiery red rims around the irises. Further transformations could also occur could also turn the white of the eyes black or reddish in color, as well as the skin around the eyes. The most severe transformations would cause the darksider to appear to be aging rapidly, as the skin would lose pigmentation, becoming pale and mottled while veins became increasingly visible and hair would lose color. At some point, the user's voice could also be altered, becoming a few pitches lower and raspier. The effects generally progressed over time and immersion in the dark side, and would not immediately affect one's appearance. Some did not suffer any of the physical degeneration of the dark side, and their eyes only assumed the yellow hue during moments of anger. Of those that embraced the dark side, different individuals would experience different symptoms: Darth Malak, for example, experienced a change in eye color and acquired a slight pallor, but no other effects that could be explained naturally (although he required a vocabulator after his jaw was severed). Only those that devoted almost all of their being to the dark side, would have their appearance radically altered. (It should be noted that Sidious's most drastic physical alterations occurred during the lightsaber duel with Jedi Master Mace Windu; Windu using his own lightsaber to deflect Sidious's Force lightning caused the uncontrolled energy to radically alter Sidious's physical features.) In time, the corruption could go beyond mere cosmetic details and directly impair physical abilities. King Ommin of Onderon was a proficient Sith sorcerer for most of his life, and the dark side held him under its decaying influence until he eventually became incapable of movement and needed support from a cyborg exoskeleton in order to survive. Another extreme case of dark side corruption was Darth Zash, whose extensive study of the dark side led to immense physical degradation and eventually a fatal terminal condition. The worst case of this transformation would be Darth Nihilus, who was completely consumed by the dark side both mentally and physically. Eventually, he became an aberration of the dark side that existed only to consume life. The dark side could have an even greater effect on the mind, as the user often stopped trusting people and become quick to anger. It should be noted however, that some individuals who went insane were all disturbed or traumatized even before their conversion, and the dark side simply exacerbated their conditions. It was possible for these corrupting powers to be potent enough to affect those who were simply near a nexus of dark side energy. Colonel Tobin of Onderon, a man who had no known sensitivity to the Force, was so affected by the presence of Darth Nihilus and the Ravager that he fell into madness and exhibited the appearance of one who had immersed themselves in the dark side. While the dark side could destroy a body, it was also capable of sustaining one. The hateful, passionate, determined energies of the dark side were so powerful that it could prevent death for a body that was far past the point of death for a normal being. King Adas of Korriban survived for almost three centuries. Darth Sion, who suffered grievously in the Great Sith War and the Jedi Civil War had the appearance of a walking corpse. His flesh was "cracked and scarred" and he had "several thousand fractures in his skeleton," according to a Republic medical officer. He survived through the power of hate, according to Darth Traya, and called upon the dark side to make him near-immortal. Fear of the dark side :::: "Don't threaten me. ''Children are frightened by spirits—Jedi are not." "''Mmmm. But Jedi ''are frightened by the dark side…or at least they should be. Your fascination with the dark side will get you into grave trouble." :::: ―Exar Kun and Freedon Nadd As the dark side was often associated with darker emotions, darksiders were portrayed to the galaxy as savage and evil. The Jedi Order disagreed so strongly with the purpose of the dark side of the Force that they distanced themselves from anything possibly related to the dark side. They also made it part of their mission to neutralize any and all practitioners of the dark side by whatever means necessary, though killing them was usually a last resort. After the Ruusan Reformation, the order placed many limitations on Jedi to protect order members from temptation by dark side influences. For the most part, the Jedi Order forbade members romantic attachments, relationships with their families, and any type of action based on anger. These limits came from the belief that those Jedi who had deep personal attachments with loved ones also had motivation to use the power of the Force selfishly for protection, personal enrichment, or the pursuit of more power. Many—especially those who had embraced the dark side—believed this to be a result of fear. Often those who held this belief looked down upon the Jedi and other lightsiders, criticizing them for cowardice and inaction. Many Sith and even a few Jedi mocked the Jedi Order for claiming to strive to understand the Force while refusing to study everything it had to offer. They claimed that the Jedi scrutinized a single layer of the Force, while they dug beneath layer after layer, understanding and evolving. Many Sith Lords have expressed this viewpoint. Darth Malgus claimed that the Jedi refused to accept that the Force encouraged conflict, allowing those who survive to understand it better. And Darth Nox stated that the thing that united the Sith was that they "did not repress their emotions, and they embraced everything that the Force allowed." As the dark side was often associated with infamous historical figures, such as Exar Kun, and Darth Revan, it is unsurprising that many throughout the galaxy would harbor such animosity to its users. Many expletives were also associated with the dark side, including "By the Dark Side!," "Chaos take me!," "Holy Sith!," "Sith Blood/Spit!," and "Minions of Xendor!" Known Dark Side Powers and Techniques While many Dark side specific force powers were aggressive in nature not all of them are, despite the use of strong emotions the create them. The emotional nature of the dark side allowed new users to advance more quickly than light side users, however they were not more powerful overall. * '''Bolt of hatred' * Darkshear * Deadly Sight * Drain Knowledge * Force Destruction * Force Drain * Force Fear * Force Horror * Force Insanity * Force Lightning * Force Maelstrom * Force Rage * Force Affliction * Force Plague * Force Wormhole * Force Wound * Force Choke * Force Grip * Force Crush * Kinetite * Mind Control * Sith Alchemy * Thought bomb * Torture by Chagrin = ::::